Process por treating vapor op wood or its by-products



Sept. 20, 1932. E. 1.. DAY 1,373,678

PROCESS FOR TREATING VAPOR 0F WdOD OR ITS BY-PRQDUCTS Filed. Dec. 17, 1928 IN VEN TOR. EDMUND L DA Y BY 7 jwg@m% Patented Sept. 20, 1932 p t 1,878,678

UNITED STATES ATEN OFFICE EDMUND L. DAY, OF WESTLINE, PENNSYLVANIA PROCESS FOR TREATING VAPOR F WOOD OR IT'S BY-PRODUCTS 7 Application filed. December 17 1928. Serial No. 326,591.

This invention relates to a process for on the plan extending vertically and centraltreating the vapor produced by the destrucly through the apparatus. tive distillation of wood or its by-products The apparatus comprises a retort 1 which such as wood tar and wood oils, and has for is supported within the combustion chamber ""5 one of its objects to provide a process which of a furnace 3. The retort 1 is provided with shallbe capable of being practiced in a manfront and rear doors 4 and 5, respectively, ner to produce a distillate containing comwhich are removably secured in place by eleparatively little foreign matter. ments 6 and rendered vapor tight by the gas- T o attain this and other objects the invenkets 7. The retort 1 comprises a chamber 1 1o tion comprehends treating the vapor within for the reception of wheel supported trucks 8 the apparatus in which it is generated and carrying the material to be treated, and a in a manner to effect the precipitation of chamber 1 for the reception of a wheel supits heavier or high boiling point components ported fractionating unit 9 which is in the and thereafter condensing the thus purified form of a cartridge. The trucks 8 and the 35 vapor. cartridge 9 are mounted upon rails 10 which The invention also comprehends the parextend through and beyond the retort 1. tial fractionation of the vapor within the The railslO are provided immediately adr'etort of the apparatus so as to permit the jacent the ends of the retort 1 with hinged precipitated components to be subjected to removable sections 11 which are adapted to further distillation. be raised into their solid line position in The invention also comprehends he f r order to permit the application or removal of ther fractionation of the vapor in the column th doors 4 and 5 and which are adapted to of the apparatus and the conveying of cor be lowered into their dotted line position tain of the precipitated components into the wh n th d or are removed in order to perretort for further distillation. mit the trucks 8 and the cartridge 9 to'be The invention also compreh n the moved into or withdrawn from the retort 1. Of the vapor through it ClI'CUltOUS path cartridge 9 comprises a casing .12 arranged wlthin the column and provlded hi h i f ll Open t. it t id Th r i with relatively spaced fractionating unit ing 12is provided at its lower side with an in- '3'o The lnventlon also comprehends the fra let passage 18 which extends from the front q -t of the t p by divided t to the rear side of the casing and embodies spirals, broken brlck, v trlfi d l y J imperforate top and bottom walls 14 and 14 charcoal or the like. and perforated side walls 15. r The inlet pas- The. lIWentlOn also? comprehends l sage 13 is fully open at its front end, and the the Y P to the action Q tractionating rear end thereof is closed by a hinged clean as It Passes t P horlzontfll and out door 16. The casing 12 is'mounted upon twill chambers Wlthm the column: d regu beams 17 which are supported to the axles 18 i the temperature of the honzontal of flanged wheels 19 resting upon the rails 10.

0 am ers. a t d The invention also comprehends subject F langes 20 and 21 seemed to he retort 1 an I mg the vapor to the action of fractionatlng g gi gg gg i gfi h izig iig ig units as it passes through acircuitous path g p provi with a p k g within the column and provided w th a disg 1nd ackina ma+eria1 23 Such as charge opening below 1ts highest po1nt. p v P w I To The pro i h i ft more fully sand or the like, arranged upon the bottom of scribed and claimed, and a preferred form h f t t y tunctlon t0 Seatthe cartrldge 9 of apparatus for practicing the process is Wlthm lts Compartment 1b Suchmanne? shown in the accompanying drawing, whereh all the Vapor generated 1n the tf in" ment 1 will pass into the passage 13 and up- 5b The single figure is a sectional view taken Wardly throughout every part of the car- '100 tridge on its way to the outlet 1 of the retort 1.

A screw 24 carried by the rear door 4 and bearing against the rear side of the cartridge J 9 permits the gasket 22 and packing strip 22 ranged therein directly below the outlet 1.

A column'26 of substantially Teform and presenting a vertical member 27 and a hori zontal member 28, is arranged above the retort with the lower end of its vertical member in communication with the outlet 1 of the retort. The column member 28 communicateswith the column member 27 below the horizontal center of the latter. A horizontal partition 29 is fixed within the column member 27 in substantial alignment with the horizontal center of the column member 28. A partition 30 is supported within the column member'28 approximately at said center, and has its inner end resting upon the partition 29 and its outer end spaced from the outer end of this column member. The partition 29 separates the column member 27 into upper and lower vertical chambers, and the partition 30 separates the column member 28 into upper and lower horizontal chambers which communicate with each other at their outer ends and have their inner ends arranged in communication with the upper and lower vertical chambers, respectively. The partition29 is provided with an opening 31, and secured to the under side thereof is a trap 32. A pipe 3.3 extends from the trap .32 to a point beyond the column member 27, and is provided with a drain cook 34 which extends into a trap 35. The colunm member 28 is provided in its lowerside with a drain opening 36, and is provided inwardly of said opening and below the partition 30 with a dam 37. A trap 38 is secured to the lower side of the column member 28 below the drain opening 31, andis provided with a drain cook 39. V

Thelower chamber of the column member 27 is provided with a fractionating unit 40, and the upper chamber of this column member is provided with a fractionating unit 41. These fractionating units are supported by the grates 42 and 43, respectively, and they "may consist of any of the materials he'reinbe- 'fore referred to. The upper and lower chambers of the column member 28 are provided with a fractionating unit 44. This unit is arranged in the outer communicating ends of the chambers and above and below the partition 30, and it preferably consists of charcoal.

The upper chamber of the column member 27 is provided with a down flow discharge passage 45 which communicates at its upper end with the upper end of this chamber and which communicates at its lower end with the discharge opening'46 to which the condenser or a .plurality of condensers in series, not shown, are connected.

V The upper end of the column member 27 is closed by a door 46 which is hinged, as at 47, and is secured in closed position by'a key 48 which will fracture under a pressure that would tend to disrupt the column 26'. The door '46 is counterbalanced by a weight 49 which is connected thereto bya cable 50 passing over direction pulleys 51. As it is secured in closed position by a breakable pin 48, and as it is counterbalanced, the door 26 will open whenever the pressure within the column 26 becomes so high as to render the destruction of the column impossible; The outer end. of the column member 28 isclosed by a door 52 which is hinged as at 53, and secured in closed position by elements 54which may be of the type easily broken so as to provide a second safety door.

To maintain the column member 28 at the required temperature during the initial phase of the operation of the process, a gas or oil burner 55 of any well known or appropriate construction is employed. This temperature increasing means may, if desired, take the form of, a small furnace or electric heater. Means for maintaining the temperature of the column member 28 at the required degree after the initial phase of the operation of the process, may consist'of a water bath or of a blower 56 provided with a driving pulley 56*, a manifold 57 surrounding the outer end of the column member and receiving air from the blower, and nozzles 58 communicating with the manifold andsurrounding the column member. If desired, the blower 56may be driven directly by an electric motor. The column member 27 is provided with a water jacket 60 having an intake pipe 61 and a discharge pipe 62 and constituting means for maintaining'the temperature of this column member at the required degree after the initial phase of the operation of the process. This column member is provided with a'pyrometer 63, and it is maintained at a temperature substantially equal to the boiling point ofacetic acid. The down-flow discharge passage 45 is provided at its lower end with a tar discharge port 64 which communicates with a trap 65 having a draincock 66. The column member 28 is provided with a pyrometer 59, and. it is maintained at atem-perature substantially equal to the boiling point of crude wood tar.

As this apparatus constitutes the subject matter of my copending application, filed the 17th day of December, 1928, Ser. No. 326,590, a further description thereof is deemed unnecessary. Attention is directed to my application filed December 17, 1928, Ser. No. 326,592.

In practice, the fractionating unit 9 is placed and sealed within the retort 1 the trucks 8 bearing the wood to be treated are moved into the retort chamber l and the doors 4 and 5 are closed and sealed. The ap-- paratus is worked under a slight vacuum. The vapor generated in the retort chamber 1 flows through the factionating unit 9, then through the factionating unit 40, then through the fractionating unit 44, then through the fractionating unit 41, and thence downwardly through the outlet passage 45 into the condenser. The components separated from the vapor by the fractionating unit 9 remain in the retort chamber 1 for further distillation. The components separated from the vapor by the fractionating unit 40 are precipitated into the receptacle 25 for further distillation. If desired, this receptacle may be omitted and these components permitted to fall onto the fractionating material 25. The components separated from the vapor by the fractionating unit 44 will remain in the lower chamber of the column member 28 and be subjected to further distillation. The tar accumulating in the traps 85, 38 and may be withdrawn by opening the cocks 34, 39 and 66.

It will be seen that the vapor flows through a vapor tight apparatus, that it is progressively fractionated at progressively lower temperatures, and that its fractionation is materially facilitated by causing it to flow through a circuitous path, in which three of the fractionating units are arranged and which extend from the retort to the condenser, and by the means which permits said path to be maintained at the required temperatures. The distillate or acetic acid produced by this process will contain such a small amount of foreign matter as to require comparatively little refining.

In carrying out my process in actual practice, I use wood for thepurpose of distillation and immediately extract in the first instance, the acids or break up the component parts without extracting the ordinary tars and oils in any great amount, thereby eliminating the step which has ordinarily followed in first extracting the tars and oils.

In following out my process, I may howeyer, use tar or heavy oils for the purpose of distillation, substituting the tar and oils for the woods and then proceed to break up this tar or oil into acid or its component parts.

In following my process, the resultant products would be acetic acid, wood pitch, arid heavy creosote oil. I do not get light 01 s.

What I claim is: I

A process for the distilling of wood and treating its by-products, consisting of heating the wood and driving off vapor, passing the vapor through a closed circuitous substantially horizontal path of material length, positively varying the temperature of the vapor in its passage through the closed circuitous path by a controlled heating and cooling means, for fractionating the vapor, then passing the vapor in a vertical direction and then further fractionating the vapor while conveying the vapor in a downward direction.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

EDMUND L. DAY. 

